reflections on code, making, and tech

Adventures with 3D Printing

***I haven’t updated this in a while.***

I just got a 3D printer! It’s every newbie maker’s dream… Here’s the brief story.

I went to a four-day workshop where I got to build a Printrbot Play 3D printer and take it home, along with a 1 kg spool of filiament. The workshop was through my awesome cyber school, so I got to meet some of my cyber friends as I built the 3D printer.

I had never actually seen a 3D printer in action before, so watching my ‘hello world’ print of the Maker Faire robot was completely epic. This page will be a documentation of my use of the Printrbot Play plus everything I print!

Maker Faire Robots – (8/15/2015)

These are three finished robots that my brother painted.

Since I had never seen a 3D printer in action before, watching the first model ever printed on my Printrbot, the Maker Faire robot, was awesome. Printed in natural PLA, the one-inch bot came out perfectly, until my teacher dropped it and one of its arms broke off, which was both tragic and funny.

Confession time: the Printrbot is also partially my brother Talon’s because we both built the printer together. We ended up printing six different robots, and my brother has been painting them with acrylic paints. Acrylic paint doesn’t stick too good to the plastic, and you have to slather on many layers before it actually looks like it’s painted.

The six robots; two painted, two are semi-painted, and the other two are unpainted, one of which is missing its arm.

Minecraft Creepers – (8/16/2015)

These Creepers are ready for action!

Stumbling upon a wealth of Minecraft Creeper models on Thingiverse, I printed a small one and a large one, both from this creeper model. My brother painted the small one with green acrylics, and used a black permanent marker for the face. The little creeper was printed on its side, to reduce the support material, and the larger one was printed face up to keep the facial features at a high resolution. The large one was printed in blue and is not yet painted.

The creepers laying down in their printing pose.

Lord of the Rings Tolkein Charm – (8-17-15)

I’m a huge Lord of the Rings fan (my favorite characters are Eowyn and Pippin), so I 3D printed J.R.R Tolkein symbol. After the 6-minute print came off in blue PLA, I spray-painted it silver and attached some hemp cord to make a necklace!

Resistor Wire Bending Tool – (8/20/2015)

Mini Pliers and Mini Adjustable Pipe Wrench – (8/25/15)

Two-Part Electrical Outlet Cover – (8/30/15)

The two halves of the outlet cover.

After my family did some home improvement, one of the electrical outlets in my house lacked a cover plate. My solution: print one with my 3D printer!

Because the size of a standard outlet cover exceed the 4x4x5 build dimensions of the Printrbot Play, I designed a two-part cover that snaps together like a puzzle piece. It was a bit of a challenge, and I ended up printing the cover twice because I spaced the holes too far apart. Here’s the Thingiverse link to my design.

Sphinx – (9/26/15)

Human Skulls – (10/5/15)

I recently entered one of Thingiverse’s community challenges to design and print a filament spool holder. I designed one in Tinkercad based off a maker theme. One side says ‘Heart of a Maker’ and the other says ‘Make Your Heart Out’. I designed it in multiple pieces so that it would fit on the Printrbot Play’s build dimensions. It works great!

Fans – (10/30/15)

Two fan blades to be mounted on a DC motor. The green one doesn’t move as much air as the blue one.